Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-10-22
MESSAGES IN THE AIR.
The Flags, Mirr0rs and Torches Used
In Army signalling.

In Army signalling.
HOW SIGNALLING Has BEEN DONE IN ALL AGES
PRIMITIVE TOWERS Used puRINe TEE CIVIL WAR
TIE aEtrfGRAPH sysrEN-A BOARD SOW ExAMIN
INC DIFFERENT DEvIcEs-GsN. oRKELYs pEsrRI
TO IMPROVE TIE SERVICE, ETC.
In one Of the rooms In Jefferson Davis old man
sion at the corner OF 18th and streets there ar
half dozen odd Little miro. Sci ND on little til
pods They are placed two together facing each
other, and might be arranged for a lady to see
her back hair only they are mounted too low and
the glasses re most 100 small for such service
On tn walls are pictures OF men climbing tall
towers and trees with pl itforms hid among the
TOD branches. Some Of the men carry na2s ant
Others are looking through Held glasses. Standing
In The corner OF the room are some Of the Jgs 'fl
real ufe," and there are lamps and strangs
mechanisms on the maptel The mirrors
the nags, aad the other devices ar
instruments used by signal Officers II
talking at great distances where there Is neitheI
Telegraph nor telephone The pictures on the walls
are of oldtashioned 81 Inal stations ID Il served as
during the war Just at present there IS a board Il
extInine tines" mirrors or hello graphs, for pur
pose OF seecting one - the standard for the
and England they have some particular helioyraph
a. slhnuaru Tor their military service. But In
THIS country they use several different kinds and
the service. One or two Of those 10 use
are Inventions Of American officers One
signal serve S Lieut. Pue ono 20, sne
serviceLthe one In which the mechanism Is sim.
pest and most perfect; the p1ncip is the same
equipment Of the signal branch Of the Army foi
practical service. As Gen. Greedy says in mis- an
nu u report this branch OF the &C. vice was fear
tuhy neglected Until within the past etShteen
months. Only $4,000 was appropriated for this
serve oy Con .ress. II Is proposed to ask for
ABOUT 10000 more, which Is shown by exact ng-
ures 10 De necessary for the service.
PRIMITIVE SIGNALING DrRrNo THE WAR
Inwar times almost as much depends upon sig.
na1ny as on fighting. During the rebellion some
OF the most primitive forms OF signaling were
used; Clients OF wood were nailed one above
anotner on the trunks OF tail trees on prominent
points, Tor steps, and SIN Ill platforms We're erected
In the upper branches, concealed from view, ex-
cept In one direction, as far as possible. In these
trees or IN towe.s where trees were not conve-
nent LOT the purpose, the signal men were posted,
With tlags and torches, to send messages throu IN
d dne ar, over tne enemy's bead perhaps without
delay Ss ana silently; agns for letters were
dashes being represented by the waving
OF tn flags or torches. wave one way meant q
dot; the other dash. and coLnbnationso or certain
dots and dasnes made letters, with which WORKS
were spelled on and transmitted from one station
TO another These MESA les often de ided the
fateS OF the armies. They told the position OF the
enemy, the whereabouts OF friendly reinforce
ments and when TO move and where 10 strike, and
those Tn ngs That guide an a my when they other.
wise would be striking 10 the dark. These same
Gags and torches still the signals or this SER
vice. The more improved instruments or signal
ing are possessed on.y TO very limited extent for
be used, and some sort must be.
SIGNALING AMONG THE ANcrENrs.
Old records show that tn, signal service was
very important branch Of the military OF the
greatest antiquity. An old G rman work assem-.
6les some OF these facts as to ancient signaling.
The Prophet jeremiah was the chief signal ofdcer
OF his time. Ii was he who advised the children or
Benjamin to light their signal fires They then
stgnaled by means Of fires burning on hi yh places
This means OF signal ng is the most primitive and
has been used In all az s and by all people Aga
memnon used signal 1res TO communicate with
his kings over mounta rs and valleys 600 years
b. {. The Greeks during the wars OF the Pelo-
ponnese, communicated BY means OF signal nres
liz on high towers. In the course OF few hum
so that 200 years r. Cat the time OF Aristotle
Aeneas, Greek. describes d telegraph, or signal
system, consisting OF torches and buckets OF water
The buckets had graduation marks inside and were
fitted with spigpols Each graduation mark ha
u meaning, previously determined upon Each
station was provided with torch and bucket OF
WATER he sending station, In order to give q sig.
Nal. raised the torch twice, and both stations
turned on the spigot TO let the wa er run out.
When the water reached the level OF the marx,
having the meaning desired 10 De conveyed the
torch was raised once. aud both stations cut on
the water. The height OF the water then Indicated
The message SIX. Years btf re this Polybus de-
AMI Drmocrtus, In winch a certain number OF
torches Indicated certain letter or the alphabet
row OF torches was placed Oenind a board
fence at eacn station. and a board on which the
letters and numbers were written was provided as
a key to the signals. The board Was marked on
10 SOU Tres, mum. cred both ways, and in each
square was letter. The letter "a" for Instance
was In the first square, numbering either way. To
signal "A TWO torches would be shown, one to
IN" would be the third SOU ire from the TOD aud
the fourth from the side. &c. to Indicate II, three
torches would be shown to the left and tour TO the
right In this way messages were spelied out.
ROMAN SIGNAL TOWERS
The Romans Used optical signals, and some OF
the signal towers erected by them have been pre-
served to the present time. For instance, In
Besancon, Mines, CLes, and In the bI-reliet OF
the TraJan pillar there is representation Of such
gual station surround by towers OF ob,erva-
ton Tue Asiatic tribe OF antiquity hid knowl.
eIge OF signal ny. ami Ven todiy, upon the great
Chinese Wall. are found signal towers, wnicn
served as points OF Observation against Invasion,
by the TaTtarS In the middle ages the art Of sig.
naing Was, with few exceptions, lost, and was
Ts,iy Sv in the sxteensh century HOOK an En-!
saowing differently shaped OBJECTS, hung
IN frames each object DESIGNATING let
aa as the also reign few OF 0fa S
XIV and later By Marcel found NO favor, until the
Necessity rof s.ee1y CON nunica. lon arose during
OF signal apparatus by Claude Chappe In 1873
Tne first lin or these signals erected was bel ween
Paris and Lille, with % stations, and the first dis
p ten sent over IL Was Information OF the capture
of Conde. on Noyembe 80, l7o4. Soon line, ran
IRON Paris In al. directions TO Caais, Stra,bourY
ToIlon, Bayonne and Brest. The great advaQ.
tages derived from these lines by Napoleon | In.
duced other countries 10 adopt d similar system
sweden In 1875, England In 1896, Frankfort I7g6
Denmark lSO2, Prussia 1888. Austria 1895, ku STA
1859. This sy stem was soon after suppianted by
the electric telegraph.
THE SIGNAL SCHOOL IN WASHINGTON.
Here In Washington is the school OF American
signaling But the system Of instruction Is not as
complete and extensive as II Is desired TO be- The
electric telegraph, OF course, does away with all
else where II can be Used, but there are many oc-
casions and place, where something else is re-
quired. The nags, the torches, and the nelio-
graphs are used, and one Of the latest things Is
The walking telegraph Office This Is an ingenious
and cd thing. solder carries ON his back a reel
on which Is wound great length OF nne copper
phone. One end OF the wire Is sttucned 10 an
Instrument In the hands OF the operator at the
post, and the man with the reel on his
BACK Is sent 70 the point with which
goes he unreels the line wire BEHIND him. He Is
Ike f1sh at the end OF line. Thus Is established
temporary telegraph line. When he wants 10
come back he WINDS up the reel-he reels himself
In! several OF these are IN the service. The he.
hoEraph, which Signals by rejecting sun nasLes
nom small mirrors is one OF the best means OF
signaling when the weather Is suitable They are
especially Serviceable In the GEAR dry climate OF
our Western and southwestern fruntIer This In.
strunent Is gwen tie credit OF having enabled
against the Indians. In that clear mounl,fnous
country nishes OF the mirror cou d be sent for
many miles from mountain 10 mountain and a pec.
feet system OF communication was established
20 stations covering distance OF 600 miles rOuyh
ArzonA and New Mexico La solne inst ,pcos t6ho